Subspecies Ptilinopus superbus superbus (Temminck, 1809)

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CAVS: 8851

Subspecies Ptilinopus superbus superbus (Temminck, 1809)

Columba superba Temminck, C.J. 1809. Histoire Naturelle générale des Pigeons. Peintes par Mademoiselle Pauline de Courcelles. Paris : Garnery ix 41 128 30 xvi iii pp. 59 pls. [livr. 9; publication dated as 1808–1811] [livr. 8, 75] [for account of involved publication and establishment of authorship, see entry under Streptopelia chinensis tigrina (Temminck, 1809); holotype figured on pl. 33 in original publication].
Type data:
Holotype RMNH (C.J. Temminck Cabinet), Halmahera, Moluccas (as insulaires d'O-Taïti).
Type locality references:
Hartert, E. 1924. The birds of New Hanover. Novitates Zoologicae 31: 194-213.
Lamprotreron porphyrostictus Gould, J. 1874. On a new species of fruit-pigeon from northern Queensland. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 13: 137 [137] [based on two specimens in feminine and immature plumage; for identification of types, citing only one specimen, see Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls; Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp.; identity with Ptilinopus superbus (Temminck, 1809) established by Salvadori, T. 1879. A few remarks on Mr. Elliot's paper "On the fruit-pigeons of the genus Ptilopus". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1879: 61–69; lectotypification effected under ICZN Art. 74(a)].
Type data:
Lectotype BMNH 1881.5.1.2766 ♀ adult, Cape York, N QLD.
Paralectotype(s) BMNH unspecified juv. (ex J. Gould coll.; institution uncertain).
Subsequent designation references:
Salvadori, T. 1893. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Columbae, or Pigeons. London : British Museum Vol. 21 xvii 676 pp. XV pls. [115].
Ptilinopus minutus Campbell, A.J. 1906. New fruit-pigeon. The Emu 5: 155 [155] [as Ptilopus minutus; proposed provisionally, but available under ICZN Art. 15].
Type data:
Holotype NMV R.8316 ♀ imm., Cairns, N QLD.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. [32]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Coastal NE Australia north to Cape York Peninsula west as far as about Albatross Bay, QLD, south regularly to about 23ºS (Berserker Range), and inland locally to ranges on coastal watershed of Great Dividing Range—also in-shore coastal islands of Low, Dunk, Hinchinbrook, Bribie, Moreton and North Stradbroke, QLD, and most islands in Torres Strait—seasonal to Tweed-Richmond River drainages, NSW, in summer and casual and erratic further south sporadically to far E Gippsland and Beaufort, VIC, and NE TAS—elsewhere wide-ranging in Papuasia and Moluccas.

Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, Qld, Tas, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders (FLI), Gulf Plains (GUP), King (KIN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- New South Wales: SE coastal
- Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal, NE oceanic, Torres Strait Islands
- Tasmania
- Victoria: SE coastal
Indonesia
- Irian Jaya
- Sulawesi (Celebes)
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, crepuscular, diurnal, frugivorous, mangrove, migratory, nocturnal, nomadic, tall forest, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Randomly dispersed, (gregarious), seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, arboreal fruit-eater in all strata of tropical and subtropical rainforests from canopy to substage and in fringing eucalypt forest and mangrove (specially shrubby rainforest edge), nests and roosts in shrubby trees, wanders locally and regionally to seasonal food sources, particularly at night, crossing Torres Strait regularly between Sept.-Apr.